Except it's not, because exponentiation is not something reserved for integers. Just because you can write out b^4 as b * b * b * b doesn't mean that "that must

Except it's not, because exponentiation is not something reserved for integers. Just because you can write out b^4 as b * b * b * b doesn't mean that "that must be the rule". How would that rule even begin to explain how to calculate b^2/3 or b^π? It's a cute little rule to use in middle school, when you get your very first glimpse at exponentiation, but it's also incredibly wrong if you try to actually use it with the rational, real, or complex numbers =) (https://www.reddit.com/r/3Blue1Brown/comments/a6mqsf/how_is_exponentiation_different_from_repeated/ https://www.reddit.com/r/3Blue1Brown/comments/a6mqsf/how_is_... has some more information in case you want to know what _would_ be a way to understand exponentiation for all numbers, not just integers)